Angela Bassett and her husband, Law and Order's Courtney Vance, are new proud parents of twins—daughter Bronwyn and son Slater—born just weeks ago through a surrogate.

Angela says her role of Akeelah's doubtful mom reminded Angela of her own mother. "My mom was a single mom also," Angela says. "When she worked, she was out of the house a lot. She was really hard on me. She was with the teachers [asking], 'How is she doing in your class?' She really wanted the best for [me], but she also had to deal with issues of character."